AIG’s Sid Sankaran is One of CFO Magazine’s CFO’s to Watch in 2017

He’s been “Steward of the Balance Sheet” at AIG since late 2015. And now Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Sid Sankaran is among CFO Magazine’s CFOs to Watch in 2017.

Since AIG “tapped its chief risk officer, Sid Sankaran, to be the new CFO,” the magazine says, he has taken a “methodical approach to risk….Very much like a risk manager, he methodically analyzed the company’s approach to the macroeconomic risks it faces, including those stemming from the interest-rate environment, the competitive pricing climate for commercial insurance, and geopolitical hazards like the Brexit vote.”

On interest-rate risk, Sid is quoted as saying, “We plan to multiple interest rate environments.” About low insurance prices, which he attributes to a glut of risk capital in the market, he says, “Our focus has been on risk selection and business mix.” And on Brexit, Sid opines that AIG, as an international insurance carrier, needs to be “cognizant that some of the trends that have played out significantly may turn out differently in the next 5 to 10 years from the way that they have in the last 20.”

Sid tells the magazine that “a core role of the CFO is driving the capital allocation process.” As AIG focuses on fulfilling its commitment to return at least $25 billion of capital to shareholders, the magazine notes, “That’s left Sankaran with some big responsibilities over the coming months.”

Sid concludes that AIG’s legacy portfolio (with capital targeted for return to shareholders), “combined with the sustainable earnings power of our company, we believe, will allow us to execute on that target while maintaining that balance sheet strength we’re proud of building up.”